On Thursday, August 6th, 2026, President Donald Trump signed two executive orders targeting birthright citizenship and birth tourism, signaling a new approach after a "very unfortunate" Supreme Court ruling blocked his previous attempt to limit automatic citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment.

Trump stated, "We're making adjustments because it's very unfair," and criticized what he described as businesses built around birthright citizenship, saying, "They're buying their way in, and we're not going to let it happen."

White House officials explained that the new orders rely on existing executive and immigration authorities to narrow eligibility for automatic citizenship in certain cases and to crack down on foreigners traveling to the United States to give birth.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller detailed that the first order expands categories of people deemed ineligible for birthright citizenship, including "alien enemies of the United States, members of foreign terrorist organizations, and large categories of people who lobby and act on behalf of foreign governments."

Miller also said the second order is "for the first time ever in American history to ban birth tourism," with the administration set to deny visas to individuals who seek to enter the U.S. "to have a child, to make that child an automatic citizen," as well as those organizing such trips.

White House Staff Secretary Will Scharf added that the orders target organized birth tourism operations through visa denials and law enforcement, emphasizing that the administration is using "legally validated means" that do not conflict with the Supreme Court's ruling.

These moves follow the Supreme Court's rejection of Trump's earlier executive order aimed at limiting automatic birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment.

President Donald Trump in the Oval Office

Sources